The days were cold and the nights hard to remember from their start up in a Dunedin flat, but along the way something good happened, and thus Motion Sickness Studio was born. The creative trio, launched a budding business with plenty of potential offering their creative skill in the form of Motion Sickness Studio – a creative agency focusing on social media strategy.

Moving back to Auckland in search of creative agency glory or at least some pink batts and insulation, the trio grew from three motivated lads to a full agency of ambitious creatives. Display of their imaginative social media work started in a small brick building in Newmarket, Auckland, but is now a fully insulated creative studio space, full of design wonder in Cross Street, Central Auckland.

Their high ceiling industrial work abode is a force to be reckoned with, the walls adorning inspiration from everything they feel passionate about. Sam says him and his team are very “visual” people and therefore a studio that ‘looked good and felt good’ was needed.

 Being the cultivated group of people that they are, a tangible space that had authenticity about it as well as a vintage look was what they were searching for. After looking around for a couple months for a bigger space to innovate in as a base, they found the space online and were instantly sold. Not only was it a bigger area but also a dream space to let their ornamental based minds go wandering.

It is with this, that the creation of the studio was generated. On their first trip to the studio they found that it had an “empty feel” explains Sam, more or less an empty canvas for the trio to embellish into their creative work space.

The whole process took around six weeks. Two weeks to shift and build the large walls that separate workers into small pods, the perfect solution for employees to work freely. But the best part says Sam was the design process which took around 3-4 weeks, with all their furniture being manufactured off site and shipped in.

Full of various inspiration, the main source of drive comes from the fact they want the space to “feel real” insists Sam. The authentic, tangible nature of the studio aesthetic is not only meaningful to the company but also to Sam himself.

 The spatial design from company Think and Shift, with direction from Sam is authentic to Motion Sickness Studio. By first glance at the studio, the boys at Motion Sickness Studio love the idea of a vintage and heritage feel with undertones of an organic vibe. A key focus to engage with a preferred aesthetic from the team is what makes the studio so unique to sublime in.

Facilities of the studio include polished wooden floors, high ceiling studs, and ample natural light. The loft style high stud building is full of plants, something that Sam says is a favourite feature of the space. The plants intertwined up the ropes are also a prime way to define sections within the space, so employees have their own small retreats. The long lines of hanging vines symmetrically decorates the space in co-ordination with their John Constable prints that are decoratively covered in certain parts of the studio.

The prints within the frames have been an inspiration to the brand as they have used the colours for branding while still incorporating in the vintage and heritage feel. Certain design aspects such as the ’Good Vibes Only’ neon illuminated sign is a stand out for the studio, and rubs off on the company’s ethos. A somewhat fitting nod to the studio address on Karangahape Road. Sam says that this has always been a motto for the company and it has ‘worked out well’ with not only business, but their creative work, only surrounding themselves with good vibes. This also rubs off on the space, the necessity to only have good vibes within the studio allows for creative work to be operative and fitting to such a rare studio. 

As such a leading-edge individual, with plenty of innovation Sam agrees that he feels the space is relevant to his work. “It rubs off - I always wanted somewhere with character, but is still uncluttered” says Sam.

Being secluded enough to get their job done, the team tend to feed off energy and creative thoughts to one another. This creative space initiated and designed efficiently by the boys of Motion Sickness Studio, is one that amplifies what it means to have a creative space, ensuring no work day is the same and allowing good vibes only. -R

For more:

www.motionsicknessstudio.com

www.thinkandshift.co.nz

On the gram @motionsicknessstudio